Basic (BAS) data file (model grid, active model cells, and hydraulic-head values) for the Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM)

This digital dataset defines the model grid, active model cells in the 10 model layers, and hydraulic-head values in the 10 model layers used to initiate the transient hydrologic model of the Central Valley flow system. The Central Valley encompasses an approximate 50,000 square-kilometer region of California. The complex hydrologic system of the Central Valley is simulated using the USGS numerical modeling code MODFLOW-FMP (Schmid and others, 2006). This simulation is referred to here as the Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM) (Faunt, 2009). Utilizing MODFLOW-FMP, the CVHM simulates groundwater- and surface-water flow, irrigated agriculture, land subsidence, and other key processes in the Central Valley on a monthly basis from 1961-2003. The total active modeled area is 20,334 square-miles on a finite-difference grid comprising 441 rows and 98 columns. Slightly less than 50 percent of the cells are active. The CVHM grid has a uniform horizontal discretization of 1x1 square mile and is oriented parallel to the valley axis, 34 degrees west of north (Faunt, 2009). The starting heads are based on the water table and potentiometric surface developed by Williamson and others (1989). The CVHM is the most recent regional-scale model of the Central Valley developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The CVHM was developed as part of the USGS Groundwater Resources Program (Faunt, 2009. See "Foreword", Chapter A, page iii, for details).